Steve Nash is on the verge of retirement. There are some sectors that want him to retire 'for the good of his team.' Not so fast. With his career on its proverbial deathbed, the two-time MVP reflects on the most disappointing season of his career.

Right from the start, the signals were all wrong. Everybody thought that a line-up of Kobe, Nash, Gasol and Dwight Howard would go all the way to the championship. They hardly made the playoffs.

In a tell-all interview with Bill Simmons of Grantland, Nash shares the dark stories that led to one of the most perplexing seasons in the NBA.

It started even before the season began, with coach Mike Brown: "Training camp was miserable. We had these enormous practices because we were trying to figure out this really intricate offense. Nobody knew it."

"It was a tough training camp for me. The first practice was for 4 1/ 2 hours. It wasn't hard. It was just on the court, standing around and it was killing me. I had a bad back. I went from the best shape of my life to the start of training camp to where I wasn't in great shape, not necessarily condition wise but just sharpness and energy."

It also took its toll on center Dwight Howard, who didn't have enough resolve to fight through it: "Everyone could see that was going to be tough from the start. As the season went on, you could tell it was going to be tough. I think Dwight just didn't hide the fact that he didn't like it. You either have to decide and say 'I'm not going to like it and move on or just eat it and make it work. You could tell he wasn't committed to moving on. He didn't like it. He was stuck in 'I don't like it mode.' I'm not putting it on him but you can tell it really bothered him."

A lack of intensity will not escape the eyes of the Mamba, and the worst case scenario actually took place:

"He wanted to get the ball in the post. Kobe can be a pain in the [butt]. Tough beans. That's tough beans. Instead of being like, That's Kobe and moving on and trying to work with it, it bothered him and ruffled his feathers. The ball didn't move enough for him. When the ball doesn't move enough, it means he didn't get the ball enough."

Nash is a leader, an MVP like Kobe, but they have different approaches, and not all the players can understand Bryant's methods. "That intensity doesn't bother me because I'm so driven. I'm not intense in the that you rev yourself to get to that level. But I'm still extremely driven and competitive so I would relate to that some ways. There's an acceptance to that automatically. That's fantastic he's all in. There's guys who are like, 'I'm not all in deep down inside.' So to see the main guy every day bearing you down and beating you down with that will, I'm sure a lot of those guys wilt or turn for cover."

Steve Nash will not, and should not be cowered into retirement. He deserves the proper send-off.